Random 10 - 1-hit wonders

So, here's 10 one-hit wonders. I know what they are. Do you know what they are? And coincidentally, a lot of them are from the 80s. Why are there so many 1980s one-hit wonders? A question for the ages. Anyway, no Googling! And again, I'll give the person with the most correct guesses a song from iTunes. Hooray! (Sooper-sekrit message to Chris - email me, man! I've got a 99 cent gift for you! You don't get those everyday. And if you want something like Rump Shaker, by golly, I'll buy you Rump Shaker. Have no shame.)

1. You're on a mission and you're wishin' someone could cure you're lonely condition. You're lookin for love in all the wrong places, not fine girls, just ugly faces.
2. Now in the street there is violence, and lots of work to be done. No place to hang out our washing, and I can't blame all on the sun.
3. Got to make a move to a town that's right for me. Time to keep me movin', keep me groovin' with some energy.
4. That's when she told me a story 'bout free milk and a cow, and she said, "No huggy, no kissy, until I get a wedding vow."
5. Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper. Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper).
6. Once there was this kid who got into an accident and couldn't come to school. But when he finally came back, his hair had turned from black into bright white.
7. Sometime from now you'll bow to pressure. Some things in life you cannot measure by degrees. I'm between the poles and the equator - don't send no private investigator to find me please, 'less he speaks Chinese, and can dance like Astaire overseas.
8. I asked her her name, she said, "Blah blah blah." She had 9/10 pants and a very big bra.
9. I was frying on the bench slide in the park across the street, l-a-t-e-r that week. My sticky paws were into making straws out of big fat slurpy treats - an incredible eight foot heap.
10. You want it all but you can't have it. It's in your face but you can't grab it. It's alive, afraid, a lie, a sin. It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win.

Global Warming Proof

No, I haven't lost my mind and bought into Algore's An Inconvenient Piece of Crap Truth. But I did get this piece of evidence for global warming from my cousin Karen Beth, and I was amused:

Hee.

Answers to Random 10 - The Movies

Here we go again.. As always, I'll point you to the song on iTunes (if its available on iTunes.) Thanks to everybody who played along - Chris wins the free iTunes song - yaaaaay, Chris!

1. I'm a colt in your stable, I'm what Cain was to Abel - Mister catch me if you can.
   Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi (Young Guns II)
2. And if I could be king, even for a day, I'd take you as my queen; I'd have it no other way. And our love would rule this kingdom we had made. Till then I'd be a fool, wishing for the day...
   Change the World by Eric Clapton (Phenomenon)
3. I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find. Without a trust of flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
   New Slang by The Shins (Garden State)
4. Now you'll say you're startin' to feel the push and pull, of what could be and never can. You mirror me, stumblin' through those old fashioned superstitions I find too hard to break.
   The Goonies 'R' Good Enough by Cyndi Lauper (Goonies)
5. Hark, now hear the sailor's cry. Smell the sea and feel the sky.
   Into the Mystic by Van Morrison (Immediate Family)
6. Don't come knocking around my door. I don't want to see your shadow no more. Colored lights can hypnotize, sparkle someone else's eyes.
   American Woman by Lenny Kravitz (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me)
7. Love, I don't like to see so much pain. So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away. I get so tired of working so hard for our survival. I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive.
   In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel (Say Anything, used in the best scene ever)
8. And the days go by like a strand in the wind, in the web that is my own, I begin again. Said to my friend, baby, nothin' else mattered.
   Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks (School of Rock)
9. You know I love you, I always will. My mind's made up by the way that I feel.
   Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet (Four Weddings & A Funeral)
10. It's my own design, it's my own remorse. Help me to decide - help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure.
    Everybody Wants to Rule the World bY Tears for Fears (Real Genius)

I'm thinking One-Hit Wonders for the next round.

Everything is on the internet

For real. I just had my TV on one of the VH1 music channels - I think it was Classic Rock - and there was a Red Hot Chili Peppers song that I decided I liked. I didn't look over in time to catch the name, but I remembered that there was a cowbell being played in the song somewhere. So I Google "red hot chili peppers song cowbell" and Y'ALL, there's a freaking cowbell database! A big list of songs that feature cowbells. Unbelieveable. Of course, neither of the Red Hot Chili Peppers songs listed is the song I'm looking for, but still. A cowbell database. Sheesh.

Which reminds me, I need to post the answers to the movie edition of the Random 10. Chris, with your three completely correct answers, you win. Yay! Email me and tell me which song you want from iTunes, and it's yours.

I want to see John Tucker Must Die

Is that wrong? (Some of the comments here are amusing - "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG r u RILLY the guy from John Tucker Must Die??!?!?!?! U R sooooo HOTTT!")

Shortest post ever. Sorry. I've got nothin'. Go read Boobs, Injuries & Dr. Pepper in the interim. Dang, she's funny. Profane, though. But funny. Especially this.

Oh look, a studio version of a Clay Aiken song that you probably haven't heard.

Somehow, I randomly ran across this mp3 on Facebook, of all places. By the way, are any of you on Facebook? I'm entirely too old for it, but a little bit obsessed anyway. If you know my first and last name, look me up. If you don't know my first and last name, email me at ramblestrip AT gmail DOT com and I might tell you if you don't sound like a stalker. And after I tell you that you don't sound like a stalker, I'll tell you my last name. Ha.

Anyway, I uploaded the mp3, A Thousand Days, to my server, if anybody wants to download it. Not sure if it's going to be on his Fall 2006 release or not (which I think is titled A Thousand Different Ways, but I wouldn't swear to it) and he may have performed it on tour, but I haven't heard it. It's typical Clay Aiken - great voice, kind of silly lyrics, great voice, melody that isn't anything new, and great voice.

And I typed out the lyrics as I listened - it only took two listens because he's such the enunciator. :-) Still, I'm not sure they're totally right. Not like it matters.

Through my eyes
I see the world start spinning like a ball
Stars light up and then fall
For you
So then what's a man like me supposed to do
If I gave you the moon
Would you notice that I'm right beside you?

Well a thousand days, a thousand nights are not enough
'Cause I can't hold back the way I feel about my love
Won't let it go, won't let it go
And if the angels came I'd fight them back to win your soul
And when everything is said and done they'd go back home
They oughta know, they oughta know
That you're mine, all mine

In my world, you're the sun that shines and lights the evening sky
Clearing up the horizon
Hold on
Come with me and I will never let you down
Oh, and in this love we'll drown
This I promise you
'Cause they can't hold us down

Well a thousand days, a thousand nights are not enough
'Cause I can't hold back the way I feel about my love
Won't let it go, won't let it go
And if the angels came I'd fight them back to win your soul
And when everything is said and done they'd go back home
They oughta know, they oughta know
That you're mine, all mine

I would do anything, just believe it
Your love means everything, and I need it
Your heart won't lie - reach out for light

Well a thousand days, a thousand nights are not enough
'Cause I can't hold back the way I feel about my love
Won't let it go, won't let it go
'Cause you're mine, all mine
And if the angels came I'd fight them back to win your soul
And when everything is said and done they'd go back home
They oughta know, they oughta know
That you're mine, all mine

And here's the mp3 - please right-click and "save as" so you don't unnecessarily drain my bandwidth. Thanks.

1000 Days - Clay Aiken

I just noticed the scary "drown" line - I don't like that, because it reminds me of creepy Judd Nelson who will kidnap you in his creepy van and put you in his creepy room so you can write on his creepy wall and then he'll DROP YOU IN THE LAKE! I'm also not a fan of the "fight them back to win your soul" bit, because ... my soul's already spoken for, now and forever. And I wouldn't give up the Lord for anyone, especially not Clay Aiken. That's all I've got.

Edit - so 1000 Days was performed on tour last year, debuting in Cary, NC. The mp3 download above points to an apparent leak of a studio version, not the live version.

Ramble Strip may be cooler by email. Just not as pretty. But less effort on your part.

I've finally gotten around to adding an email notification to my blog, via Feedblitz. So. If you want an email (just one daily) with the daily updates (no update for that day = no email for that day), just enter your email address in the box at the top of yonder sidebar. I can't promise anything, but you just may be a better person for it.

She says she's just a friend

What song is that modified lyric from, my lyrical gangsters? That one's easy.

Well, it seems that Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are not gay. Whew. That had really been keeping me up at night.

Seriously though, had people really been concerned about that? I watch Oprah occasionally (including yesterday's "Wildest Dreams" rerun with Clay Aiken and the screaming twins - heh) and I had never given a single thought to her friendship with whomever. I'm just wondering why it's everywhere in the media.

I was going to say something else but I don't remember what it was.

Oh yes. I really hope that this bout of anxiety I'm suffering through right now eases before I have to start classes again. Seeing how I'm barely functioning right now and all. Stupid anxiety.

Things that I would say to Leah Remini, and also, random comments about unfortunate noses

So Leah Remini claims to have seen the possibly non-existent Suri Cruise. Oh Leah Remini, you did not. You just went to that place where Tom is holding Katie hostage so y'all could talk Scientology craziness, and he jumped on you like a couch until you agreed to tell someone that you'd seen the maybe-fake baby.

By the way, Leah Remini, what are you doing being a Scientologist? Did you know it's a cult?

And also - the liberal-leaning, New York, computer-savvy version of me, my good friend Mia, thinks that in one picture I look like Leah Remini. I think that I do not. But go visit Mia's Popgadget, anyway - it's multiple kinds of awesome. Go early and often.

In other news, I wonder if Luke Wilson ever thanks his lucky stars that he didn't get the unfortunate Owen nose?

Random 10 - The Movies

These may be kind of easy, and it seems like I'm not making any non-lyrical posts lately, but my anxiety has flared up and been pretty debilitating for a few days and my brain is too tired for a coherent thought. So, here's other people's thoughts - and they're all from a movie. Since the lyrics are pretty obvious, I'll add a little twist - the movie has to be identified, too. (I know at least one is in multiple movies - just one will do.) And as always, no Googling! Again, I'll give the person with the most correct guesses a song from iTunes. Whee!

1. I'm a colt in your stable, I'm what Cain was to Abel - Mister catch me if you can.
2. And if I could be king, even for a day, I'd take you as my queen; I'd have it no other way. And our love would rule this kingdom we had made. Till then I'd be a fool, wishing for the day...
3. I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find. Without a trust of flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
4. Now you'll say you're startin' to feel the push and pull, of what could be and never can. You mirror me, stumblin' through those old fashioned superstitions I find too hard to break.
5. Hark, now hear the sailor's cry. Smell the sea and feel the sky.
6. Don't come knocking around my door. I don't want to see your shadow no more. Colored lights can hypnotize, sparkle someone else's eyes.
7. Love, I don't like to see so much pain. So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away. I get so tired of working so hard for our survival. I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive.
8. And the days go by like a strand in the wind, in the web that is my own, I begin again. Said to my friend, baby, nothin' else mattered.
9. You know I love you, I always will. My mind's made up by the way that I feel.
10. It's my own design, it's my own remorse. Help me to decide - help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure.

Answers to Random 10 - The 90s

And here we go. Again, I'll point you to the song on iTunes (if its available on iTunes.) Thanks to everybody who played along - Jill wins the free iTunes song - yaaaaay, Jill!

1. Holy lady, show me my soul. Tell me of the place where I must surely go. Old man waiting at the gates for me - give me the wisdom, give me the key.
   In the House of Stone And Light by Martin Page
2. Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold. And its always summer, they'll never get cold. They'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and gray. You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere. They won't make it home, but they really don't care.
   The Way by Fastball (incidentally, this song scares me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because they don't make it home but they really don't care. I don't know.)
3. I thought I saw a man brought to life. He was warm, he came around like he was dignified. He showed me what it was to cry.
   Torn by Natalie Imbruglia
4. As we die, both you and I - with my head in my hands, I sit and cry.
   Don't Speak by No Doubt
5. And it's one more day up in the canyons. And it's one more night in Hollywood. If you think that I could be forgiven - I wish you would.
   A Long December by Counting Crows
6. I looked out across the river today. I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower, where the seagulls play.
   All This Time by Sting
7. Is it my turn to wish you were lying here? I tend to dream you when I'm not sleeping. Is it my turn to fictionalize my world? Or even imagine your emotions, tell myself anything?
   I'd Die Without You by P.M. Dawn (I remember this one time? At band camp? We listened to this song about 1,000,000 times in a row.)
8. The very first time that I saw your brown eyes, your lips said "hello" and I said hi. I knew right then you were the one.
   If I Ever Fall In Love by Shai
9. I'm so tired but I can't sleep - standin' on the edge of something much too deep. It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word. We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard.
   I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan
10. I take a walk outside. I'm surrounded by some kids at play. I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear? Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head - I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning - how quick the sun can drop away.
    Black by Pearl Jam (love this song - particularly the end)

And that is all. I have ~300 USMLE Qbank questions to categorize. Whee!

Oh, by the way, what do y'all want next? Another decade? Random stuff? What? I'm up for suggestions.

Let's buy me a camera, okay?

So. After test-driving my friend Victor's Canon 20D, and getting truly excellent prints from Shutterfly yesterday, I have concluded that I must upgrade my Elan 7 to a Canon 30D. I'm going to hang onto my film camera (the Elan) but I have to have this digital. It's absolutely fantastic, and I can't believe it.

And, I have fantastic parents who will half-buy this ridiculously expensive toy. (It's a good time to say that the only toy that I ever cried over was a toy camera. I was 25. Just kidding - I was really like, four. But I've always loved cameras and camera accessories.)

But. Notice I said "half-buy". So I'm going to come up with $750.00 myself (an interesting feat, considering that on my own, I am more-or-less unemployed and monetarily poor.) I have $350.00 in Best Buy giftcards, which carries the object of my desire, which brings us to $400.00. I also have a really nice and barely used Olympus Camedia C-740, and a Canon 420EX Speedlite flash for which I can probably get $100 each on eBay. That leaves me $200.00. I could beg my ex-boss for a few hours at the lab, I suppose. Or I could bring over my Paypal donation camera fund button, which gets shunned and ignored and picked last for dodgeball in yonder sidebar. (I'm inspired by the "paper-clip for a house" guy, what can I say?)

So if you are so inclined, and able, to toss even the teensy-weensiest amount of cash into aforementioned Camera Fund, I would appreciate it so much. If not, you know I've still got nothin' but love for you. You guys are awesome. *MWAH*

A couple of things

First of all, I finally, Finally, FINALLY, got DSL at home (and by home I mean home, not the apartment. I have a cable modem there that I lurve.) Another thing I lurve? Home. But I did not love the dial-up modem, no I did not. So yesterday we finally got DSL, which hasn't been available in this area that long (another thing I love - living in the middle of nowhere. It feels safe, home-y, comfortable, and timeless.)

So I read about Pandora Internet Radio in this week's issue of Newsweek (the idea of coupling music with a "genome project" caught my attention) and I'm stuck on it. I can't stop. I'm gonna buy 600,000 songs from iTunes. Somebody help me.

Random 10 - The One From the 90s

Okay, here we go again. These are random shuffles from iTunes, all from my gargantuan playlist from the 1990s. And I had the idea to do a decade-restricted list before I saw that Danielle had done the same thing. No, really!

I think I will steal one idea from her, though - if you guess the most (either in the comments or by email - ramblestrip at gmail dot com) you get a song of your choice from iTunes, as gratitude for playing my little game. No Googling! Cheaters never win. :-) And if you get ALL of them, you get two songs. Reaaaaddddyyyy ... setgo!

1. Holy lady, show me my soul. Tell me of the place where I must surely go. Old man waiting at the gates for me - give me the wisdom, give me the key.
2. Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold. And its always summer, theyll never get cold. They'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and gray. You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere. They won't make it home, but they really don't care.
3. I thought I saw a man brought to life. He was arm, he came around like he was dignified. He showed me what it was to cry.
4. As we die, both you and I - with my head in my hands, I sit and cry.
5. And it's one more day up in the canyons. And it's one more night in Hollywood. If you think that I could be forgiven - I wish you would.
6. I looked out across the river today. I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower, Where the seagulls play.
7. Is it my turn to wish you were lying here? I tend to dream you when I'm not sleeping. Is it my turn to fictionalize my world? Or even imagine your emotions, tell myself anything?
8. The very first time that I saw your brown eyes, your lips said "hello" and I said hi. I knew right then you were the one.
9. I'm so tired but I can't sleep - standin' on the edge of something much too deep. It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word. We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard.
10. I take a walk outside. I'm surrounded by some kids at play. I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear? Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head - I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning - how quick the sun can drop away.

Answers to the Random 10

I know I said a day or two. Whoops. What I meant was, a day, or two weeks. See, I'm early! I would post the mp3s along with the lyrics and the song titles, but I'm skeered of Zee Great and Powerful International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which has already given me the smackdown once. Instead, I'll point you to the song on iTunes (if its available on iTunes.) Thanks to everybody who played along - wasn't that fun? We'll do it again sometime (i.e., today, if I get around to it.) And here you go:

1. And she was looking at herself, and things were looking like a movie. She had a pleasant elevation. She's moving out in all directions.
   And She Was by Talking Heads
2. I can't be held responsible. She was touching her face. I won't be held responsible, she fell in love in the first place.
   The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe
3. You grew up way too fast, and now there's nothing to believe. And reruns all become our history.
   Name by Goo Goo Dolls (who have ridden in your car, Danielle? Cool.)
4. Jennifer's got her daddy's car, she's playing Uptown on the stereo. We go cruisin' so close, the way they did long ago.
   Make Me Lose Control by Eric Carmen (I love me some 80s. Don't let anyone tell you I don't.)
5. Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim? No matter what you say, it don't take away the pain that I feel inside. I'm tired of all the lies.
   Youth of the Nation by P.O.D. (good song, by the way)
6. I guess I should've closed my eyes when you drove me to the place where your horses run free.
   Little Red Corvette by Prince (although iTunes has a bunch of Prince, they don't have this one. Hrm.)
7. I think of you every night and day. You took my heart, then you took my pride away.
   I Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett
8. Let me tell you now, I never had it so good. Yeah, and I know you never could, until you get hip with that jive, and take a band like the Church Street Five.
   Quarter To Three by Gary Bonds (that's an oldie but goodie - iTunes doesn't have it)
9. I don't wanna be the bad guy. I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore.
   Santa Monica by Everclear
10. Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!
    It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by REM

And that is all. I'm off to lounge by the pool. :-) By myself, of course - I wouldn't subject anyone to a view of my disgusting fat. But the thing about fat is, it looks better tan. So off I go.

Keira Knightley weighs all of 18 pounds

Keira Knightley doesn't suffer from anorexia. Okay, sure. Then why does she look like one of those undead, skeleton-y pirates?

Ick.

Something that is non-ick - Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest opens on Friday, including one Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow, one of my favorite characters ever. Eeeeee.

Carnival of the Cats #119

Cats, cats, cats galore! (Including my Public Service Announcement against Frog Licking.) The Carnival of the Cats is up at Watermark. And that is all.

Some pits of despair are funnier than others

Punchberry is in a "clathrin-coated pit of despair". Bwahahahahaha. Ha. Hee. My amusement is not only due to the fact that that's funny (darn you for being more clever than me! I so should have thought of that first! I've been floundering around in clathrin-coated pits for years!) but also to the fact that this one:

Oliver in Pepsi box couture

decided that it would be a FANTASTIC idea to "Mrrrrrrowr!" relentlessly at me at 6:30AM on a Saturday. So everything's funny. Unfortunately though, that means I have to see Star Jones on the Today Show, and I am quite finished with Star Jones.